Year 9 Experience

In Preshil’s Year 9 Experience, students embark on an exciting and challenging adventure; they step out of their comfort zone and travel to the far north to experience a very different environment and reflect on their own lives. This 11-day journey begins in Darwin and travels to Kununurra via Katherine, Lake Argyle and El Questro National Park.

The service project in Kununurra has rich opportunities for our students to participate and really engage with a remote indigenous community where they experience positive aspects of community life through service projects in cooperation with local organisations.

They get to understand how volunteering can have an impact at a local level and how implementation of small actions work towards achieving a larger goal.

The camp provides an environment for students to take responsibility for their actions and to be able to stand up for what they believe in. At Preshil we support students to have the courage to question in the knowledge that they can reach out for support when necessary.

Participating in an outdoor experience gives students the opportunity to view issues from other perspectives and cultures; to have the skills to be able to communicate and work effectively with diverse groups. Specifically, the Year 9 Experience gives students an opportunity to gain a much deeper understanding of indigenous culture in the stunning surrounds of the East Kimberly.

Away from the distractions of contemporary life, students are given the space to cultivate relationships with their peers. They experience a new appreciation of team work. They have time to share and to get to know one another in a completely new context.

Our partner program Rustic Pathways explains in more detail the purpose behind their programs.

“Traveling with Rustic Pathways is only the beginning of positively impacting lives and communities around the world. Learning is a life-long process, and we want to continue the journey with students so we can all work towards making the world a better place. When traveling, students may have been exposed to some of the many issues our world faces today. Emotions, thoughts and feelings may have been challenging when they witnessed different styles of living, poverty and marginalisation, environmental degradation, lack of education, and issues around health and hygiene. Travel is an essential part of education that helps create compassion, empathy and a desire to help others.”

Students return to Melbourne with a new pride in being Australian; a deeper appreciation of our shared heritage and perhaps a renewed appreciation of their own comfortable lives.

Video created and edited by Jen Buchanan.